You can find information on charities or Institution of a Public Character (IPC) on the Charity Portal at www.charities.gov.sg. Alternatively, you may contact us at 6337 6597.

One can apply for IPC Status on the charity portal (www.charities.gov.sg). However, one must first satisfy the requirements, which include the following:

• One must be a charity, or an institution, or fund which is:
  
  
  
  • a hospital not operated or conducted for profit;
    
  • a public or benevolent institution not operated or conducted for profit;
    
  • a public authority or society not operated or conducted for profit and which is engaged in research or other work connected with the causes, prevention or cure of disease in human beings, where the gift is for such activities;
    
  • a university or a public fund for the establishment, maintenance, enlargement or improvement of a university;
    
  • an educational institution not operated or conducted for profit, or a public fund for the establishment, maintenance, enlargement or improvement of such an educational institution;
    
  • a public or private fund for the provision, establishment or endowment of a scholarship, exhibition or prize in a university, or an educational institution not operated or conducted for profit;
    
  • a public fund established and maintained for the relief of distress among members of the public;
    
  • a charitable institution or a body of persons or a trust established for charitable purposes only; or
    
  • an organisation not operated or conducted primarily for profit which is engaged in or connected with the promotion of culture or the arts or with the promotion of sports.
    
  
  
• Its activities must be beneficial to the community in Singapore as a whole, and not confined to sectional interests or group of persons based on race, creed, belief or religion, unless otherwise approved by the Minister. These activities must meet its objectives under its governing instrument and the objectives of the Sector Administrator
  
• It must be administered by a group of independent governing board members and at least half of whom are citizens of Singapore.
  

You can find more information on this at www.charities.gov.sg. Alternatively, you may contact us at 6337 6597.

Organisations with IPC status are authorised to receive tax-deductible donations (i.e. donors are given tax-deduction for donations made to these organisations).

Generally, donors need to be discerning and donate to causes and organisation that they are familiar with.

First, take time to identify the charitable causes important to you. There are various worthy causes to support in Singapore, ranging from providing support for the young, the elderly, the disadvantaged and disabled, to education, environment protection and the arts. You can find out more about these causes from the SG Gives website.

All charities have to register themselves with the office of the Commissioner of Charities. If the solicitation is done on behalf of a local charity, you should verify that it is registered with the office of the Commissioner of Charities, by using the search function on the Charity Portal. If it is indeed a registered charity, you should initiate contact with it directly to find out more about its objectives, its intended beneficiaries, and the people who are responsible for the charity/IPC. Look at the charity's annual report and financial statement to get an idea of its operations. If third party fundraisers are involved in the appeal, do bear in mind that part of your contribution may be channelled towards the fundraising expenses.

If the solicitation is from an overseas charity, you may need to exercise more care and find out whether it is a bona fide charity registered with the regulator in its country, and perform a simple online search to find out more about it. A well-managed charity should subscribe to the principles of transparency and accountability. If necessary, you should clarify with the charity how the funds raised would be used, and how much of it would directly benefit its beneficiaries. On the whole, you should exercise greater caution when deciding whether or not to donate funds directly overseas.

Do not feel pressurised to give, you could contact or find out more about the charity and to give them at a later date.

You can find more information on this at www.charities.gov.sg. Alternatively, you may contact us at 6337 6597.